How a LOCKER DUMP can make school easier

So you’ve probably heard of a backpack dump, right? Well—what about a locker dump?

What’s up? My name is Seth Perler. I’m an executive function coach, and I help struggling students navigate this thing called education so they can have an awesome life. Executive function is a quality-of-life issue—this is something that can really get in the way.

At my site, sethperler.com, I have a bunch of freebies and resources that can help you.

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But let’s get back to the locker dump.

A locker dump is similar to a backpack dump. For any of you high schoolers—or anyone who has a locker—this can be incredibly helpful.

What I see with my students is this: their lockers get overwhelming. Their backpacks and folders are disorganized. Papers end up in the wrong folders—or no folders at all. Backpacks get jammed with papers at the bottom. Lockers are stuffed. Desks are messy.

And overall, it just becomes overwhelming.

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What a locker dump does is help you take stock of what you have and reorganize everything.

If you’re not the most organized student, it’s probably important to do a locker dump at least once a month. Honestly, doing it once a week would be even better—it’s like a reset.

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Here’s what happens when my students do a locker dump.

When I’m working with students in my office, I have them take everything out of their locker—literally everything—and put it into a bag. Gum wrappers, broken pencils, papers at the bottom—everything goes in.

If you’re doing this at home, dump everything onto the floor, a table, or a big sheet. The sheet helps you collect dust and crumbs so you can just shake it out afterward.

The key point is this: get every single item out of the locker so you can actually see what you’re dealing with.

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Next, lay everything out and start going through it piece by piece.

Here’s a mistake a lot of students make: they grab a bunch of papers at once and say, “I don’t need this anymore.” But when we slow down and actually look, one of those papers might be important.

So you need to be detailed. Go through one item at a time.

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A question I often ask students is:

“Why do you want to keep this?”

Sometimes they have a good reason—great, we keep it. But often they realize, “Actually, I don’t need this,” and they can throw it away.

We tend to rush, but sometimes going slower is actually faster. Be intentional.

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As you go through everything, you’re doing a full reset and overhaul.

You’ll reorganize your materials and put everything back where it belongs.

And here’s the bonus—you’ll often find things you forgot about:

* “Oh, I thought I turned this in—I got a zero, but it’s right here.”
* “Oh, I forgot this project was coming up.”
* “Oh, I’ve been looking for this charger forever!”

This process helps in a lot of detailed, practical ways.

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Alright—that’s the idea.

Again, my name is Seth Perler. If you like this, give it a thumbs up, comment, subscribe—whatever works for you. And please share it if you think it could help someone.

But I really want to hear from you:

What do you think about the locker dump? Are there other types of “dumps” you use—like a desk dump or a drawer dump?

Do you have any tips that could help others do this better?

Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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I appreciate you. I wish you joy and peace in your heart—and most of all, connection with the people you care about today.

Take care.